Spurs can't handle Heat in Game 7

In the wake of Tim Duncan's retirement, the Express-News is digging through its archives to relive some of his most important moments. This article originally ran on June 22, 2013.

MIAMI — The moment had been six years in the making.

All the work, all the weight loss and all the sweat that four-time champion Tim Duncan had poured into his long-awaited return to the NBA Finals boiled down to one play.

He had Miami’s Shane Battier caught in a defensive switch and dead to rights in the paint. He had the ball. With one flick of Duncan’s 37-year-old wrist, the Spurs could have had Game 7 tied in the waning moments.

And then, the record skipped. Duncan missed a shot he has made thousands of times. And Miami held on for a 95-88, championship-clinching victory that will haunt San Antonio for the summer and beyond.

Not long after his miss, Duncan pounded his hands on the AmericanAirlines Arena hardwood in frustration.

“That’s just out of me missing a bunny,” Duncan said during a funereal postgame interview session. “That’s just frustration.”

His frustration extends beyond Game 7.

What Duncan did not say in words after Thursday night’s season-ending heartbreak he said with his demeanor.

In the quest for a fifth NBA championship, and the Spurs’ first since 2007, he might never get this close again.

The Spurs arrived in Miami up 3-2 in the series with two chances to clinch a title. Game 6 was the true heartbreaker. The Spurs were 5.2 seconds away - an eye-blink, really - from reclaiming the Larry O’Brien trophy, only to lose in overtime.

“To be at this point, with this team, in a situation where people counted us out, it is a great accomplishment to be in a Game 7,” Duncan said. “Or to be in a Game 6, with two chances to win an NBA championship and not do it, that’s tough to swallow.”

As much as the Spurs believe they gave away their chance at a championship, LeBron James also seized it from them. The back-to-back Finals MVP averaged 31.8 points in the final four games of the series and posted a pair of triple-doubles.

The Spurs’ path back to the Finals next season will be treacherous, given the age of their core players and the stars that had to align to get them there this season, but not impossible.

Duncan, who has two seasons left on the contract he signed last July, says he has no plans to retire after a 2012-13 campaign that saw him return to the All-NBA first team for the first time since 2007.

Manu Ginobili, who will turn 36 not long after becoming an unrestricted free agent July 1, left the door to retirement open a crack after a struggle-filled Finals series, but likely is to return at a discounted rate.

Where the Spurs go from here largely depends on whether they re-sign Ginobili and Splitter.

With almost $41.7 million in salary committed to next season, assuming all player options and not including cap holds, the Spurs will have little financial wiggle room with which to reload through free agency.

The Spurs have two picks in Thursday’s NBA draft, No. 28 and No. 58, to fill in some blanks.

“There are a lot of things that’s going to haunt us going forward,” said guard Danny Green, who capped a breakthrough Finals with a 1-for-12 Game 7. “But the biggest reason why it hurts so much is we don’t know if we’ll have a group like this again.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has committed to return next season as well, though he will be without lead assistant Mike Budenholzer, who will coach the Atlanta Hawks.

In the aftermath of a disappointing Game 7, Popovich said it was too early to begin to put together the puzzle for his 18th season on the bench.

“I’m going to go get a meal,” Popovich said. “I’m not going to think about next season. I’m going to enjoy what they accomplished this season and feel badly about the loss all at the same time.”

That loss will be felt up and down the Spurs’ roster, and for some time to come. None - save maybe the hyper-emotional Ginobili - will take it as hard as Duncan.

He came up big in both potential closeout games in Miami, totaling 57 points and 29 rebounds, only to head into the summer empty-handed for the sixth season in a row.

Duncan came as close as he could come to tasting victory champagne without popping the cork.